Should Kids Be Tried as Adults
Don’t let the innocent looks and actions of kids and teenagers fool you. Never under estimate the knowledge of kids and youths due to their first impression, the way they look, dress and act. I believe teenagers should be tried and sentenced as adults. If teenagers believe they could get away with cruel crimes, then I believe they are capable of being able to handle the consequences of an adult act and behavior. Many juveniles in the United States are being tried as adults. “Age can shape every aspect of a capital case,”(54) stated Adam Liptak in” Supreme Court to Rule on Executing Youth Killers”. Teenagers as well as kids have the ability to commit an adult crime. In the Article “A Portrait of a Child Who Murdered” by Gitta Sereny ten year old Mary Bell murdered her friend’s eight year old brother and skinned his genital area with a pair of scissors. She then abandoned his body by a brick wall and covered him with leaves and branches. Youth and kids commit crimes, do to the way they think, what they watch on TV, read in books and the internet.
The brains of kids and youth are not fully developed as said in” Startling Finds on teenage Brains”, by Paul Thompson, “adolescent brain is not fully developed…brain cells are only being lost in the area controlling impulse, risk-taking and self-control.”(59) This may also be the cause of kids not having second thoughts or listening to their conscience. However, teens and kids thoughts differ from their actions.
In order for juveniles to fully understand the affects and consequences to what they have committed, adult sentencing is a better and effective consequence. This is because juvenile sentencing is too lenient for kids and youths who commit heinous crimes. For example, “little girls who rob a bank was given a 26-years-to-life prison term,”(56) stated Margie Lundstrom in “Kids Are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes”. The sentencing of 26 years to life was understandable because these were little girls committing a
The brains of kids and youth are not fully developed as said in” Startling Finds on teenage Brains”, by Paul Thompson, “adolescent brain is not fully developed…brain cells are only being lost in the area controlling impulse, risk-taking and self-control.”(59) This may also be the cause of kids not having second thoughts or listening to their conscience. However, teens and kids thoughts differ from their actions.
In order for juveniles to fully understand the affects and consequences to what they have committed, adult sentencing is a better and effective consequence. This is because juvenile sentencing is too lenient for kids and youths who commit heinous crimes. For example, “little girls who rob a bank was given a 26-years-to-life prison term,”(56) stated Margie Lundstrom in “Kids Are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes”. The sentencing of 26 years to life was understandable because these were little girls committing a